Morris, a member of the School of Medicine's Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, developed a program that reached 337 women during a pilot project to take breast health awareness to public transportation. In addition, 137 men met with Breast Express to obtain more information to share with their significant others.
"This pilot program was developed to explore alternative non-traditional methodologies of increasing the awareness of breast health," Morris said. "We especially wanted to look at priority populations which included older, multicultural, uninsured and underinsured women."
The program used two public rail stations of MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) -- Five Points and Lindbergh -- to obtain a baseline survey of knowledge, attitude, behavior and practice; to teach hands-on breast self examination; to provide free appointments for clinical breast exams and mammography; and to analyze data including client satisfaction and replication.
The Profiles in Progress Awards are presented each year to those who have been instrumental in helping save women's lives through early detection of breast cancer. Morris' Award for Innovation in Community Outreach, judged best in the category, was presented to her Oct. 5 in Washington, D.C., where she was given $5,000 to further her work with Breast Express.
Prior to her work with Breast Express, Morris was project director for "Partners for Life," an Emory program that looked at barriers to care from a client's perspective as well as system barriers that prevent women from not only entering, but also remaining in a health care setting for ongoing preventive care.
-- Sarah Goodwin